The Monuments Men

Sometimes a film has all the right components to make a perfect viewing experience and it just doesn’t work. The cast can be top-notch, the story enthralling, the production values great but the film just doesn’t add up. And so it is with George Clooney’s latest directorial effort, The Monuments Men…

Top Ten: 2001 Films

A couple of weeks ago on a Facebook film discussion page someone posted a challenge for me to name my Top Ten films of 2001. I could have just left a comment on the page with the list but thought why not go the whole hog and actually write a post. 2001 wasn’t a classic year in film and saw the release of Freddy Got Fingered, Pearl Harbor and Planet of the Apes…

Top Ten: 2013 Movies (so far…)

We’re almost half-way through the year so it’s time to have a look back at how 2013 has been so far. Next week I’ll be doing a Top Ten books that I’ve read this year (although not all have been published in 2013) but I’m starting with the Top Ten 2013 Films…

Behind the Candelabra

I am just about old enough to remember Liberace, the flamboyant, over the top, fur-coat wearing pianist. He died when I was about 11 and he had only vaguely appeared on my radar before then. As I grew older I considered him in the same vein as great British comedy acts like Larry Grayson and John Inman. Camp as Christmas and gay as they come….

The Bourne Identity

I’m a big fan of the James Bond films. I think that, on the whole, they are sharp, full of excitement and (let’s be honest) as camp as a row of tents. I recently decided to watch all of the Bond films again to get myself ready for the 50th anniversary next year and the release of Bond 23, Skyfall …

5 movies I can’t wait to see… but will just have to!

This summer hasn’t exactly been a classic. Not in terms of the shocking weather and certainly not when you look at what’s been on at the cinema. Harry Potter was the first brilliant blockbuster of the year…

Green Zone

No director has yet managed to produce a great film set during the Iraq War. I know Kathryn Bigelow won the Best Director Oscar for The Hurt Locker but that was pretty dull ….